Archive for 'Grammar'
Demonstrative pronouns em Português Posted by Ester on Aug 3, 2015
Oi gente. You may have already learned the pronomes demonstrativos, but it’s worth having another look, especially with the combinations below: Isso, esse, este, essa, esta (all meaning “this” or “these”) are used when you are referring to something which is close to you. Esse, este – this (masculine) Always followed by a masculine…
Advérbios – Adverbs Posted by Nicole on Jul 25, 2015
Adverbs in Portuguese are very similar to adverbs in English. They are adjetivos (adjectives) that describe a verbo (verb). Also, English adverbs generally end in -ly, while Portuguese adverbs usually end in -mente. For example: A Luana canta bem. (Luana sings well.) O João provavelmente está doente. (João is probably sick.) Other times, an adverb can be…
Por que, por quê, porque, e porquê – What’s the difference? Posted by Nicole on Jul 16, 2015
Por que, por quê, porque, and porquê all look pretty much the same, but they all mean something different. Show your Portuguese prowess by mastering each of them. Por que is the basic form. This literally means por qual razão or por qual motivo, or “why.” Por que você não gosta de chocolate? (Why don’t you…
Brazilian sense of humor Posted by Ester on Jul 6, 2015
Sense of humor is intrinsically connected to a country’s language and culture. Watching Brazilian comedy on youtube is a great way of getting to know and understand the Brazilian sense of humor. So let’s take a look at a funny video with some vocabulary explained. You can change the settings on the video to show…
Making, accepting and refusing invitations in Portuguese Posted by Ester on Jun 29, 2015
Inviting people to places in a polite way can be tricky if you are not sure what the proper approach is, culturally speaking. For the same reason it could be even more difficult to decline or accept invitations. Convites – invites Saying yes is much simpler than saying no to something. Before we check other ways…
8 verbs with preposition in Português (Portuguese) Posted by Ester on Jun 22, 2015
Some verbs in Portuguese require the use of preposition even though most don’t. Let’s take a look at some important ones: Morar em – to live Eu moro em São Paulo. – I live in São Paulo. Combined with the article a, as, o, os: Marcos mora no Rio de Janeiro. (em + o =…
When and How to Use the Crase Posted by Nicole on Jun 6, 2015
The elusive crase! We all see it from time to time…but do we know exactly when and how to use it, or the rules attached to it? It’s an interesting part of Portuguese grammar and here’s the scoop: When you use the feminine article “a” or the pronoun “a” with the preposition “a”, you need…